Our Terms and Conditions

YOUR CONTRACT IS WITH Esplora Ltd, a Member of ABTA.

1. 1. Tour reservation and booking
      • Before a booking can be accepted we must receive a completed booking form via our website. On receipt of the necessary documentation we will advise you that your booking has been accepted and confirm your place on the tour (usually within 2 days) and ask you to pay the relevant deposit (usually 20% of the total tour price) within 7 days using the method you indicated on your booking form. Your receipt for the payment will be issued on clearance of the funds in our account.
      • The final balance of your tour must be paid at least 75 days before departure date. If the balance is not paid in time we reserve the right to cancel your tour, retain your deposit, and apply cancellation charges as set out below.
      • When a booking is made within 75 days of departure the full amount of the tour must be paid at the time of booking.
   2. Your holiday contract:
      • When you make a booking you guarantee that you have the authority to accept and do accept on behalf of your party the terms of these booking conditions. A contract will exist as soon as we issue our confirmation invoice. This contract is made on the terms of these booking conditions, which are governed by English Law, and the jurisdiction of the English Courts. You may however choose the law and jurisdiction of Scotland or Northern Ireland if you live there and wish to do so.
      • If you had not seen these terms and conditions when you made your booking and you are not happy to proceed with the booking now that you have seen them please return all documentation to us, within 7 days of receiving these booking conditions. Your booking will be cancelled and your monies will be returned in full, provided you have not commenced your travel. This clause does not apply if your booking was made within 10 weeks of travel
   3. Your financial protection:
      • We provide full financial protection for our package holidays, by way of an insurance policy with IPP Ltd.
      • In accordance with “The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992” all passengers booking with Esplora Ltd are fully protected for the initial deposit and subsequently the balance of all monies paid to us, including repatriation if required, arising from cancellation or curtailment of your travel arrangements due to the insolvency of Esplora Ltd.
      • There is no requirement for Financial Protection of day trips, and none is provided. This insurance is only valid for packages booked that DO NOT include flights.
      • Consumer aware: Your booking is insured by IPP Ltd and its panel of insurers. For further information please go to www.ipplondon.co.uk
      • This Insurance has been arranged by International Passenger Protection Limited and underwritten by Insurers who are members of the Association of British Insurers & Lloyds Syndicates.
      • CLAIMS PROCEDURE:
      • Download Claims Form from www.ipplondon.co.uk. Any occurrence which may give rise to a claim should be advised within 14 days to:
        International Passenger Protection Limited
        Claims Office
        IPP House
        22-26 Station Road
        West Wickham
        Kent BR4 0PR
        United Kingdom
        Telephone: +44 (0)20 8776 3752
      • In order to deal promptly with any claim hereunder it is essential that you retain all bills, receipts and other documents relating to your travel arrangements.
      • CLAIM FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITHIN SIX MONTHS OF DATE OF INSOLVENCY WE CANNOT CONSIDER OR PAY CLAIMS RECEIVED AFTER THIS DATE
   4. ABTA
      • We are a Member of ABTA, membership number Y6134. We are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by ABTA’s Code of Conduct. We can also offer you ABTA’s scheme for the resolution of disputes which is approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute. If we can’t resolve your complaint, go to www.abta.com to use ABTA’s simple procedure. Further information on the Code and ABTA’s assistance in resolving disputes can be found on www.abta.com. 
   5. Your holiday price
      • We reserve the right to alter the prices of any of the holidays shown on our website. You will be advised of the current price of the holiday that you wish to book before your contract is confirmed.
      • Right to surcharge
        Changes in transportation costs, including the cost of fuel, dues, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports and exchange rates, mean that the price of your travel arrangements may change after you have booked. However there will be no change within 30 days of your departure. We will absorb and you will not be charged for any increase equivalent to 2% of the price of your travel arrangements, which excludes insurance premiums and any amendment charges. You will be charged for the amount over and above that, plus an administration charge of £1.00 per person together with an amount to cover agents’ commission. If this means that you have to pay an increase of more than 8% of the price of your travel arrangements, you will have the option of accepting a change to another holiday if we are able to offer one (if this is of equivalent or higher quality you will not have to pay more but if it is of lower quality you will be refunded the difference in price), or cancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid, except for any amendment charges.
      • Should you decide to cancel for this reason, you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days from the issue date printed on your final invoice. We will consider an appropriate refund of insurance premiums paid if you can show that you are unable to transfer or reuse your policy.
      • Should the price of your holiday go down due to the changes mentioned above, by more than 2% of your holiday cost, then any refund due will be paid to you. However, please note that travel arrangements are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your travel due to contractual and other protection in place.
   6. If you change your booking
      • If, after our confirmation invoice has been issued, you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way, for example your chosen departure date, we will do our utmost to make these changes but it may not always be possible. Any request for changes to be made must be in writing from the person who made the booking. You will be asked to pay any further cost we incur in making this alteration.
      • Any requests for a change in departure date must be made at least 75 days prior to the scheduled departure.
   7. If you cancel your holiday
      • You, or any member of your party, may cancel your travel arrangements at any time. Written notification from the person who made the booking must be received at our offices. Since we incur costs in cancelling your travel arrangements, you will have to pay cancellation charges as follows:
        

        Number of days prior to tour start	Cancellation fee per person
        more than 75 days	5% of tour price
        75 – 57 days	25% of tour price
        56 – 43 days	50% of tour price
        42 – 28 days	75% of tour price
        Less than 28 days	no refund

        Note: If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy, you may be able to reclaim these charges.

   8. If We Change or Cancel Your Holiday
      • As we plan our tour arrangements many months in advance we may occasionally have to make changes or cancel your booking and we reserve the right to do so at any time.
      • Changes
        If we make a major change to your tour, we will inform you as soon as reasonably possible if there is time before your departure. You will have the choice of either accepting the change of arrangements, accepting an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value), or cancelling your holiday and receiving a full refund of all monies paid. In some cases we will also pay compensation (see below). These options don’t apply for minor changes. Examples of minor changes include change of accommodation to another of the same or higher standard, small changes of itinerary (for example, due to closure of a museum or road or adverse weather conditions).
      • Cancellation
        We will not cancel your travel arrangements less than 8 weeks before your departure date, except for reasons of force majeure or failure by you to pay the final balance. We also reserve the right to cancel a booking or a tour if we consider it necessary, or if a minimum of 6 clients is not reached by 8 weeks before date of commencement of trip, or at any time and for any reason, although obviously we will endeavour not to do so. If we cancel a tour you will receive prompt and full refund of all money paid to Esplora Ltd for the tour.
      • We adhere stricly to all current advice from the British Foreign Office on the safety of our travel destinations. If part of a destination is deemed unsafe to travel to due to Force Majeure, we will amend our itinerary accordingly. In cases where it is not possible to amend our itinerary or the whole territory of a destination is deemed unsafe to visit we will cancel the holiday and refund any money in full that you have paid to us.
      • Force Majeure can be understood to mean any of the following: war, riot, industrial dispute, terrorist activity and its consequences, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, epidemics and pandemics, unavoidable technical problems with transport.
   9. If you have a complaint
      • If you have a problem during your tour, your first point of contact is your tour manager who will immediately endeavour to put things right. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please follow this up within 28 days of your return home by writing to our Customer Services Department at 16, Cockcroft Place, Cambridge CB3 0HF giving your booking reference and all other relevant information. Please keep your letter concise and to the point. It is strongly recommended that you communicate any complaint to the supplier of the services as well as to our tour manager. If you fail to follow this simple procedure we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint whilst you were on the tour and this may affect your rights under this contract. Please also see clause 4 above on ABTA.
   10. Our liability to you
       • If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed by us or our suppliers we will pay you appropriate compensation if this has affected the enjoyment of your travel arrangements. However we will not be liable where any failure in the performance of the contract is due to: you; or a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel arrangements and where the failure is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised; or an event which we or our suppliers, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall. Our liability, except in cases involving death, injury or illness, shall be limited to a maximum of 2 times the cost of your travel arrangements. Our liability will also be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to
         (a) The contractual terms of the companies that provide the transportation for your travel arrangements. These terms are incorporated into this contract; and
         (b) Any relevant international convention, for example the Montreal Convention in respect of travel by air, the Athens Convention in respect of travel by sea, the Berne Convention in respect of travel by rail and the Paris Convention in respect of the provision of accommodation, which limit the amount of compensation that you can claim for death, injury, delay to passengers and loss, damage and delay to luggage. We are to be regarded as having all benefit of any limitation of compensation contained in these or any conventions.
         You can ask for copies of the transport contractual terms, or the international conventions, from Esplora Ltd. Under EU law (Regulation 261/2004) you have rights in some circumstances to refunds and/or compensation from your airline in cases of denied boarding, cancellation or delay to flights. Full details will be publicised at EU airports and available from airlines. However reimbursement in such cases will not automatically entitle you to a refund of your holiday cost from us. Your right to a refund and/or compensation from us is set out in clause 8. If any payments to you are due from us, any payment made to you by the airline will be deducted.
         NB this clause does not apply to any separate contracts that you may enter into for excursions or activities whilst on holiday.
       • Esplora Ltd shall not be liable for any compensation in the event of ‘unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances’ that arise as a consequence of the UK’s exit from the EU.
   11. Prompt asistance while on tour
       • If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed as a result of failures attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the services, or as a result of failures due to unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised, or an event which we or our suppliers, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall, and you suffer an injury or other material loss, we will offer you such prompt assistance as is reasonable in the circumstances.
   12. Passport, Visa and Immigration Requirements
       • Your specific passport and visa requirements, and other immigration requirements are your responsibility and you should confirm these with the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates. We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements.
   13. Excursions
       • Excursions or other tours that you may choose to book or pay for whilst you are on holiday are not part of your package holiday provided by us. For any excursion or other tour that you book, your contract will be with the operator of the excursion or tour and not with us. We are not responsible for the provision of the excursion or tour or for anything that happens during the course of its provision by the operator.
   14. Getting to the tour start and departure
       • You are responsible for your own transport for arriving at the advertised tour departure point. In agreement with the office we can pick you up on the tour start day from a nearby hotel free of charge, but this must be arranged in advance. Esplora Ltd will also undertake to drop you at the agreed departure point on the day of departure. In the case of clients extending their holidays you will be responsible for your own transport to the airport.
   15. Payment methods
       • Our preferred method of payment is by bank transfer, though we also accept payment by personal debit card. In addition, for UK based customers, we can accept payment by credit card or cheque (drawn on a UK bank and at least 75 days before departure). Please indicate your preferred method of payment on the booking form. Please also note we do not accept any payments from corporate/business credit or debit cards.
   16. Code of conduct
       • When you sign up for one of our tours, you agree to abide by the decision of your Esplora guide. If you commit a crime or behave in such a way as to endanger the safety and welfare of the party, our guides have the right to ask you to leave the holiday immediately and there will be no refund payable. On unescorted excursions we rely on you to act sensibly and prudently at all times and to comply with local codes of conduct. You will indemnify us of all losses and/or damages arising from any act of misconduct on your part or anyone in your party.
   17. Travel Insurance
       • It is a requirement of booking with Esplora Ltd that you have adequate personal travel insurance to cover the eventualities of your trip.
       • You are strongly advised to insure yourself against possible risks that may occur and in particular to ensure that you have sufficient pre-departure cancellation cover which includes dependent relatives upon whom your trip may depend. You should make sure your insurance includes escorted/led travel, as this is specific to the type of holiday we offer. You are required to carry proof of insurance with you and produce it if requested by company employees or suppliers.
       • You are responsible for ensuring that you are in possession of a valid travel insurance for the entire duration of your trip in respect of medical expenses, medical emergency repatriation (including helicopter and air ambulance) and death. You must ensure that there are no exclusion clauses which limit cover for the type of activities included in your tour as we will not be responsible for costs you may incur as a result of not having valid or adequate travel insurance. It is the responsibility of all our clients to declare any material facts including known medical conditions to their insurers, as failure to do so may result in a claim being reduced or declined.​​
   18. Health & Fitness for travel
       • It is your responsibility to tell us before you book of any disability or medical condition which may affect your holiday arrangements and any resulting special needs. All such information must be confirmed in writing before or at the time of booking. A reasonable level of fitness is required for our holidays and excursions as some walking can be involved. If you are in any doubt about the suitability of any of our holidays please just ask.
       • Our tours are “activity” holidays and clients are expected to satisfy themselves prior to booking that they are fit and able to complete the itinerary of their chosen holiday as described in the brochure. If it transpires that you are not adequately fit, or affected by any condition, medical or otherwise, that might affect your or other people’s enjoyment of the holiday, you may be asked to opt out of certain visits, or invited to leave the tour altogether. This would be at your own expense.
   19. Personal Injury
       • We will not make any payment if your injury, illness or death was caused by an event or circumstances which the person who caused it could not have predicted or avoided even if they had taken all necessary and due care. We will not make any payment if your illness, injury or death was your own fault. If we do make a payment, it will be similar to one you would receive under English law in an English court.
   20. Photography & promotional material
       • We may use photographs or videos of our tours to create promotional material. We retain the right for any likeness or image of you taken on one of our tours may be used by Esplora without charge in all media (whether now existing or in the future invented) for bona fide promotional or marketing purposes, including without limitation promotional materials of any kind such as brochures, slides, video shows or the internet. If you do not wish to consent to us using your image in such a way, it is your obligation to communicate this to us in writing.
   21. Data Protection
       • In order to process your booking and to ensure that your travel arrangements run smoothly and meet your requirements we Esplora Ltd need to use the information you provide such as name, address, any special needs/dietary requirements etc.
       • We take full responsibility for ensuring that proper security measures are in place to protect your information. We must pass the information on to the relevant suppliers of your travel arrangements such as hotels, transport companies etc. The information may also be provided to security or credit checking companies, public authorities such as customs/immigration if required by them, or as required by law.
       • Additionally, where your holiday is outside the European Economic Area (EEA), controls on data protection in your destination may not be as strong as the legal requirements in this country. We will not however, pass any information onto any person not responsible for part of your travel arrangements. This applies to any sensitive information that you give to us such as details of any disabilities, or dietary/religious requirements. (If we cannot pass this information to the relevant suppliers, whether in the EEA or not, we cannot provide your booking. In making this booking, you consent to this information being passed on to the relevant persons.)
       • You are entitled to a copy of your information held by us. If you would like to see this please contact us.
   22. Brexit Implications
       • Certain travel arrangements could be affected as a result of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union. This could include an unavailability of certain flight routes, and changes to the passport and visa requirements of British citizens travelling to, within or through the EU. We are continuing to monitor and will advise our customers as soon as possible if we become aware of any changes affecting confirmed bookings. However, since these are unprecedented circumstances and the consequences unforeseeable and beyond our control, we would treat any such changes as a force majeure event. Whilst we will endeavour to provide suitable alternative arrangements we will not be liable to pay you any compensation.
   23. Covid-19 policy
       • We adhere strictly to all current advice from the British Foreign Office on the safety of our travel destinations. If we need to cancel and/or reschedule a Tour because of COVID-19 travel restrictions, we will be in touch and provide more information specific to your Tour. You can choose between the following options:
         1. Transfer to the offered future Tour departure date.
         2. 100% credit to use towards a future Tour departing on or before 31 December 2022, less any penalties by hotels or local service providers that we are unable to waive.
         3. A refund, less any penalties by hotels or local service providers that we are unable to waive. We will use good faith efforts to recover and refund as much money as possible in light of these circumstances.
       • As a result of Covid-19 you may be required to complete and present additional travel documentation before you travel. Please check the most up to date travel restrictions and country-specific requirements before your departure. Unfortunately, we cannot be responsible for other expenses incurred such as covid-19 tests, vaccination passports etc.
       • No automatic refunds – Please note that government-imposed advice on quarantine period will not automatically result in a tour being cancelled nor in an automatic entitlement to refunds.